In Louisville’s 86-60 victory over Siena, senior center Anas Mahmoud came very close to putting together a rather rare performance. On 8-of-12 shooting, Mahmoud scored 17 points along with 13 rebounds and nine blocks — narrowly missing a triple-double. But a special kind of triple-double.

The nine blocks are a career-high for Mahmoud, but it’s not some outlier. Earlier this season against Nebraska-Omaha, Mahmoud rejected eight shots. So far this season, only eight Division I players have blocked at least eight shots in a game, including Mahmoud, Ben Lammers and Paschal Chukwu.

Mahmoud ranks seventh in the nation in block rate 16.2 percent, per KenPom. This means when Mahmoud has been on the floor this season he’s blocked over 16 percent of opponent two-point field goal attempts.

With the help of Mahmound, the Cardinals rank 11th nationally in terms of adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. Opponents are shooting just 33.3 percent on post-up possessions against Mahmoud, per Synergy. On isolation attempts, Mahmoud has held opponents to just 0.31 points per possession (16.7 percent shooting) — No. 15 in the nation.

If Anas Mahmoud keeps this up, his defensive ability could help him make the NBA — a serious goal of his, as he described to David Glenn back in October.